Sore! Harrington is the latest to be hit by Open injury hoodoo

An Open Championship already missing world No 1 Tiger Woods suffered another scare when defending champion Padraig Harrington declared himself a major doubt for Thursday's first round.

The Dubliner suffered a wrist injury while hitting shots against an impact bag following his victory in the Irish PGA Championship on Saturday.

Harrington limited his practice to nine holes yesterday and refrained from hitting any shots out of the punishing rough.

'I am just not sure at the moment if I am going to start but I am strongly hopeful,' he said.

'During the nine holes I could feel a tingling sensation in my wrist. But when you think I couldn't support the weight of a club on Saturday night or Sunday, it has definitely improved a lot. The scary thing for me now is if I re-injure it playing a shot out of the rough.'

Helping hand: Harrington is undergoing treatment to be fit for The Open

Harrington has suffered injuries throughout his career, largely owing to his dedication to practice.

The 36-yearold employs a full-time physio, Dale Richardson, who works constantly on a chronic neck problem, while there was a bout of tendinitis in his elbow to contend with in the spring.

On this latest injury, Richardson offered an optimistic bulletin.

'I have no real concerns at this point in time,' he said. 'As long as he does not overdo it, he will be okay.'

There were similar noises emanating from coach BobTorrance, who declared himself a lot happier with his man than he was on Sunday.

While Harrington seems certain to start tomorrow morning in the company of South African Retief Goosen and former champion Justin Leonard from America, Nick Faldo will be one of those monitoring his progress with fingers crossed.

The Ryder Cup captain was already reeling from bad news this week, after learning that Luke Donald is unlikely to be part of his plans at Valhalla in Kentucky, again because of a wrist injury.

The last thing he needs now are any worries on the Harrington front.

Harrington had targeted this event and two big-money tournaments next month to make a late bid to force his way into the top 10 who earn automatic Ryder Cup spots.

A win at any of the three - the other two events are the Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio and U.S. PGA Championship in Detroit - would certainly do the trick.

But that is clearly not going to happen if this wrist injury flares up.